Back to Basics — Alton's After-Show

Cutthroat After-Show 11206:31

Alton Brown and Antonia Lofaso discuss the sabotages the competitors faced as they prepared lasagna, chili and chicken cordon bleu.

Given the unexpected sabotages, limited time on the clock and looming judgment with which they're forced to adapt, it's likely that when chefs compete on
Cutthroat Kitchen, they're cooking under a crushing amount of stress and pressure. For some, that anxiety may serve only to better their game, forcing them to work smartly and efficiently, but for others, such a burden may get the better of them.

In this week's competition, a chef's inability to cope with the competition's demands ultimately led to his or her exit. Judge Antonia Lofaso told Alton on his
After-Show that the contestant's Round 1 lasagna offering featured such grievous errors that she had no choice but to eliminate him or her on account of these seemingly elementary errors. Although inexperienced with making fresh pasta, this chef was forced to make pasta dough from scratch, but the end result proved "dense," according to Antonia, and was only one part of an overall unsuccessful plate. "It was just poorly executed, everything on the dish," she said, "from the cuts of the bell peppers to them not being cooked to pasta that was just completely inadequate."

"I think [the competitor] was so flipped out that [he or she] simply got derailed and never got back," Alton mused. Antonia agreed, noting, "I have so much sympathy for these guys doing this, because no doubt when that time clock is on you and things are being thrown at you … nerves get to you." Antonia's advice to future contestants, however, is simple: "Just make something that's cooked well, seasoned well."

Click the play button on the video above to hear more from Antonia and Alton, then start the conversation with fellow fans in the comments below. What did you think of the chefs' offerings this week? Were the sabotages especially harsh, or did the contestants simply struggle with the pressures of the competition?